All Blacks thrash Wallabies to clinch Bledisloe Cup in Sydney

Australia's quest to regain the Bledisloe Cup will stretch into a 19^th year following a demoralising 43-5 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night.

A series which started with so much hope and a gutsy draw now has New Zealand holding an unassailable 2-0 lead with one game to play after a record breaking win.

Yet with the new era under Dave Rennie comes a new breed of players - who still need to find their feet at Test level - and mistakes and uncharacteristic decisions under pressure.

Debutant Noah Lolesio scored a try yet he endured a rough welcome to the Test arena during a 65-minute stint deputising for injured playmaker James O'Connor.

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Lolesio was caught out in defence, where he lined up at fullback and struggled with spacing against a rampaging outfit which, in truth, was unlucky not to add three more tries to their 26-0 half-time lead.

To those who feel like they've seen all of this before - talk of a new dawn followed by a dreadful showing, and this one marks Australia's darkest day against the All Blacks - Rennie has a message.

"We're five or six weeks into a four-year campaign. We're gutted about the result," Rennie said.

"I must admit in the first game in Wellington, I was nervous about an All Black performance that would find us under pressure but we showed a lot of character that night.

"All I can say is we're going to keep working hard. We think we've got some good kids coming through, we need to respond immediately. The plan is you'll see that next week.

"You can't turn over ball as often as we did. You've got to give them credit, they were really sharp, really clinical, their skill set was outstanding in those conditions.

"They were top notch, we were a long way off tonight and it's reflected in the score."

Woeful starts in Homebush have become something of a trend for the Wallabies - half-time margins in three of their past four Bledisloe Cup clashes at the venue have been 29, 34, and 26. The outlier was a one-point lead for the hosts two years ago.

In contrast, Australia have scored a total of 21 first half points in their past six games against New Zealand in Sydney.

It is hard not to marvel at the brilliance of the All Blacks, who are again staking a claim to be the best team in the world despite their lacklustre finish at last year's World Cup. Australia and Argentina would do extremely well to unseat them in the race to the Tri-Nations trophy.

A chaotic opening 14 minutes saw both sides reduced to 14 men with Filipo Daugunu and Jordie Barrett both shown yellow cards at different stage, before the All Blacks drew first blood, had another try overturned, and one denied by an all-time try saver from Marika Koroibete.

But it seemed as though the near-misses were papering over the cracks for a Wallabies outfit stuck on the backfoot.

Soon enough All Blacks flyhalf Richie Mo'unga was one little stumble away from a first-half hat-trick as his side enjoyed 67 per cent of possession in the opening stanza. Fullback Beauden Barrett partnered him to orchestrate the carve up.

Caleb Clarke - the man denied by Koroibete in the early stages - again showed glimpses of the devastating power that has seen him likened to rugby legend Jonah Lomu.

In contrast the Wallabies were seemingly out of answers. They were error-prone and boasted a kicking game which seemed more a matter of hope than a planned scheme. Jordan Petaia's run in the lead up to Lolesio's try was, coupled with Koroibete's try saver, the only other highlight for the hosts.

"You saw the feeling from our guys on the field afterwards, how much the Bledisloe means to us. One of the reasons it means so much is how much respect we've got for this Wallabies team," All Blacks coach Ian Foster said.

"It's been a tough series to date. For us to play that well over here is something to be pretty proud of.

"To the Wallabies, I know it's a tough result, but we saw a lot of determination and attitude out of them, particularly in that third quarter. They showed there is something building there."

The hosts now have one more chance to make amends when the Bledisloe Cup series wraps up in Brisbane next week - though it will not be enough to win back the trans-Tasman prize they so desperately crave.

They may be forced to do it without lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, who fell awkwardly after being tackled by Sam Cane before being taken from the field early in the second half with a possibly knee injury.

Whether he is there or not, Australian rugby fans will want a response. So too will Rennie and his troops after a history-making defeat.

AT A GLANCE

Bledisloe Cup III: ALL BLACKS 43 (Richie Mo'unga 2, Karl Tu'inukuafe, Dane Coles, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett tries; Mo'unga 5 conversions; Mo'unga penalty) bt WALLABIES 5 (Noah Lolesio try) at Sydney Olympic Park. Crowd: 25,689.